Effect of pore shape and size on energy absorption in cellular Al-Si12 manufactured by infiltration process

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.3174222421088

• Palavras-chave: -

• Keywords: cellular metals, infiltration process, quasi-static compression, energy absorption, pore size, pore shape.

• Abstract: The energy absorption capacity of irregular pore and rounded pore cellular metals with five pore sizes, subjected to quasi-static compression, was evaluated in this research. An aluminum-silicon alloy as base metal and sea salt particles as removable filler were used. The cellular metals were manufactured using a modified removable filler infiltration technique, in which a controlled atmosphere device that allows melting and infiltration of the metal in a single heating operation was used. Properties such as density, relative density, and porosity of cellular metals were obtained based on mass, volume, and simple equations involving these parameters. Stress-strain curves from the quasi-static compression tests were graphed and by integrating the area under their curve, the energy absorption capacity per unit volume was calculated. The results indicate that cellular metals with irregular pores have higher density, higher relative density and lower porosity, and in addition, greater energy absorption capacity compared to those with rounded pores. The scatter diagrams indicate a negative correlation between energy absorption capacity and pore size for the two pore shapes. The analysis of variance allows concluding that the energy absorption capacity is affected by the shape and size of the pore and by the interaction between these two parameters.